twenty gallons of sweet

"I meant to fninsh the spring-cleaning today, but I'd only done three hives and then I had to stop. Now I shall swell," Lady Finch said fussily, peering at her chin in the looking-glass that hung over the fireplace.  
              The Native Heath
              Elizabeth Fair

Finally the day of honey harvest arrived.  Sunday afternoon was the only time Witt had available before leaving to go out town for his new job, so in the hot garage we stayed for several hours in order to extract the honey from the wooden frames. The bees were actively buzzing outside the garage door, therefore, all doors must be  tightly closed to prevent them swarming in to the honey. Yet a few strays still made it into the garage, but as long as you left them alone you were okay, there is that fine line equaling complete cooperation by man and insect.

My kitchen is presently a mess of sticky sweet...emphasis on the sweet since I do not allow the stickiness to stay around very long, all it takes is a wet washcloth after all. We lightly strain our honey(filter without pressing), then we bottle. This year our bee supers have yielded around twenty gallons of honey! We are well- pleased.